Contact our Patient Affairs team

The Patient Affairs office is located just past the main reception in Watford General Hospital.

Open Monday to Friday, 9am-4pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.

Bereavement service

Our aim is to provide a compassionate, dignified and caring service for the deceased patient and their family and friends. We offer an advisory service and smooth the way in the processes that will follow.

We’re involved in liaising with various agencies, such as the Coroner and the Coroner’s Officers, The London School of Anatomy, tissue retrieval teams, other NHS hospitals, funeral directors, registration offices and local government offices.

We make every effort to observe and respect the cultural and religious needs of every family.

Registering a death

Once the medical certificate of cause of death has been issued, please register the death at a Registration Office in Hertfordshire. Where possible, this should be within five working days.

You can make an appointment online via the Hertfordshire County Council website or by phone on 0300 123 4045.

Out of hours registration

If a burial is to take place on a weekend, where a doctor knows and has treated the patient, a medical certificate of cause of death can be issued, providing the coroner does not need to be involved.

The Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Hatfield offer an out-of-hours service, by appointment only. Saturday - 9.30am–12.30pm. Sunday - 9am–11.00pm. Make an appointment online via the Hertfordshire County Council website or call 0300 123 4045.

A green certificate will be issued by the Registrar. This will need to be given to your funeral director who must bring this certificate to the hospital, along with the hospital transfer of care form, signed by the next of kin.

To release a deceased patient from the hospital mortuary, a time must be arranged in advance with the hospital Operations Manager.

Witnessing Wills and Power of Attorney

We are happy to assist with legal documents such as wills and power of attorney but the patient must have the mental capacity to be able to make important decisions for themselves. We will be guided by the medical team caring for the patient whether this is the case. 

If there are any question over the patient’s capacity then we would be unable to assist with this matter.

For further information, please contact the Patient Affairs team on 01923 217114.